Fish cutting and cleaning machine



H. D. SEVERANCE..

FISH CUUING AND ummm; rfi/mmm.

NVENTR APPLICATIGN FILED DEC. 2?. i920.

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A TTORNEY H. D. SEVERANCE.

F-ISH CUTTING AND CLEANING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC.27. 1920.

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A TTORNEY ,I

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H. D. SEVERANCE.

FISH'CUTTING AND CLEANING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED 1150.27.1920.

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A TTORNEY earner orties.

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FISH GUTTENG AND CLEANENG- MACHKNE.

RSpeeicatl'ion of Letters Patent.

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hpplicationrled December 27, 1920. Serial No. 438,117.

To all 'whom t may concern: .l

Be it known that l, HOWARD Ditmar.

SEVERANCE, a citizen ofthe United States,

residing at Monterey, in the county of Mom s terey and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements Iin Fish Cutting and Cleaning Machines, of which the following is a-speciication. f l

This invention relates to fish cutting and io cleaning machines and has for its object to simplify and improve the construction and operation of machines of this class.

ln prior devices, so far as 'l am aware,

it has been necessary first to slit or' cut the i fish into longitudinal halves and thereafter to remove the entrails by meansof a wheel or disc equipped with teeth or lingers. In

the present invention l make use of a di'erent principle wherein the'head ofthe fish 2o is shear'ed or broken o'` in suchl a way as not' to break or sever the entrails whereby the latter may be drawn out with the head.

rllhisA makes it'unnecessary to slit the sh longitudinally Ias in 'prior devices. l also a5 make use of mechanical means for causing the sh to `bearranged so that the heads will come in the proper position to be acted upon by the shearing device.

@ne form which myA invention may yasso' sume is exemplified in the. following description and illustratedl inthe accompanyin drawings, in whichl ig. 1 shows aside elevation of a device embodying my invention,

Fig. 2 shows a plan view of the same, A Fig. 3 shows an end elevation,

Fig. a shows-a sectional view on the line ll---d of fFig. 2, Fig. 5 shows a sectional view on theline e@ 5 5 of lFig.v l, y Fig. 6 shows a sectional view on theline 6-6 of'liig. 1. l

The present .form of machine'comprises a' frame 10 :dtted with a longitudinal conveyor es. 11. This conveyor` is preferably formed with transverse grooves or channels4 12 to receive the fish, land it may be made double` width to carry two rows of fish, there being'` a dividing blade 13 extending centrally and oo loiitudlnally at the top of' the conveyor.

ach half'of the conveyor 11 is so con structed that the'hea'd .projects beyond the' outside edge, and. here llv preferably arrange a narrow supplemental conveyor or support et la extending from the feed end of the con-v veyor to a Vpoint midwaythe length thereof.

'and by .force At the latter pointll arrange the shear 4del vice which in its present form consists of a disc or wheel 15 havin radial 'fingers or toothed blades^16`movale through a wid- 60 ened slot 17 formed in a ledger-plate 18 at the end of the run of each supplemental conveyor 14. The wheels or discs are preferably journalled on c obliquely arranged axles 19 and .driven by chains 2O which'con-i 65 nect with one bf the conve or shafts.

ln order to retain the sh upon the conveyor at the time the fingers or blades strike the heads'l arrange an overhead conveyor l21, one for each row of pockets in.

the main conveyor` and traveling at the same speed as the main conveyor. Each overhead conveyorhas channels -or pockets to co-act. with. `the channels or pockets in the main conveyor sothat the body ofthe 75 fish will-be vsecurely held between. Y Since the' heads-of the fish are required to be disposed outwardly l provide mechanical meansv to accomplish this, suchmeans in the present form yof 'the invention compris- 80 ing a feed chute22 cooperating with which is an endless conveyor v23 having transverse slats 2li to move the flsh'along the chute.

' Atthe discharge end of the chute is a cenl tral division plate 25 upon which the fish 85 y ride and. fall to one side or the other depending on which way the heads are disposed. The greater weight of the head por tion of the fish will produce this action. To J assist. in tumbling the fish on the division plate l preferably provide a water pipe 26` along the top thereof and arrange to project. a vertical sheet of water against the fish. 1

fn the operation of the device ,the ishrmay I be 'fed into the feed chute in a haphazard way. JThe conveyor slats will cause the ish to be arranged4 transversely and the division plate will direct them to that side of the y vmain conveyor where thehead of the fish' 100' will be .disposed outwardly. Upon reaching the shearing device the sh will be securely held between the upper and'lower. conveyors with the head projecting beyond the outer edges thereof and resting on the ledger plate 1 8. A finger' or knife new strikes the'headofthe blow causes the h eadv to be sheare'd 0H without severingthe entrails, the latter remaining with the head and leaving the body of the lfish in the pocket between the upper and .lower containers. In this connection it is important to make the tearing ation of the fingers, the trimming disk 27 plays an important part by giving the proper finish or trim to the de- Y conveying means provided with a series of' capitated body.

The line of severance of the head of the fish will not ordinarily be a clean straight line, on account of the peculiar action of the shearing device, and therefore it may be desirable to provide supplemental means to trim the fish so as to produce a straight line after the head and entrails have been removed.,l Such a trimming device isshown at 27 ywhere I have provided a sharp disc vjournalled in a bracket 28 and driven by a chain 29 from one of the conveyor shafts. The edge of this disc cooperates with a shear plate 30 fixed upon the frame of the machine. l

The machine herein described and illustrated is susceptible of. many modifications and changes and the present structure is to be understood merely as illustrative of my invention, the principal feature of which is the sliearmg off of the head of. the fish in such a way as t0 cause the entrails to. be withdrawn from the body of the fish.

@Having thus described my invention, what I claim andfdesire to secure by Letters Pat.- ent is l. In a` machine of the class described conveying .means provided with a series of pockets, each to receive the body of a fish with the head projecting therefrom, means to clamp the fish in place in the pockets and a rotatable device having'a dull finger positioned 'to strike a downward blow to the projecting heads, whereby to tear the same from the body without severin the entrails.

2. In a machine of t e class described conveying means provided with'a series of pockets, each to 'receive the body of afish with the head projecting therefronn'means to clamp the fish in place within the pockets, a rotatable device having a'dullfinger arranged in position to strike a downward blow to the projecting heads of the fish, and a ledger late on which the heads rest when the fingerv ecomes operative whereby the head of the'fishfis torn from the body, bringing with it the entrails. I

3. In a machine of the class described pockets, each to receive and retain the body of a fish with the head projectin therefrom, a rotatable device having a -dul finger ariranged in position to strike a downward blow to thel projecting heads of the fishmain .conveyor having transverse pockets each to receive a fish, a partition extending centrally and longitudinally of the conveyor to separate the pockets into two rows, means v Afor delivering fish to said conveyor, a central division plate at the discharge endof the delivery means, on which the fish ride so that they will fall into one row of pockets or thel other, depending upon which `direction the head Iis disposed, and hydraulic means in connection with said division plate to assist in the tumbling action of the fish.

5. In a machine of the class described a main conveyor having transversel pockets, a partition extending centrally and longitudinally of the conveyor to separate the pockets intotwo rows, means for delivering fish to said conveyor ina single row, a central divisiony plate at I"the discharge end of the delivery means on which the fish ride so that the/latter will fall into one row of pockets or the other depending upon which direction the headis disposed, said pockets being so constructed that the heads will project to one side thereof, and means disposed ,in thel path of the projecting heads to sever the latter. l f j Y 6. In a machine of the class described a main conveyor having transverse pockets, a partition extending centrally and longitudinally of the conveyor t separate the pockets into two rows, means for delivering -fish to said conveyor in a single row, a central division plate at the dischar e'end of the delivery means on which the sh ride so 'that the latterlwill fall into one row of pockets or the other depending upon which direction thehead is disposed, said pockets being constructed so -that the heads will project to one side thereof, and an overhead conveyor co-,

operating with each row of pockets to clamp the fish between, toretainthe body of the fish in the latter and means disposed in 'the 1path ofthe projecting heads to sever the atter.

f HowARn'DANrEL sEvnnANoE. 

